Thread saver for sewing machines



June 13, 1933. M. A. SCIULLO 1,913,903

THREAD SAVER FOR SEWING MACHINES Filed April 2, 1952 oz'ulla Patented June 13, 1933 UNITED sr Ares PATENT MICHAEL A. SCIULLO, OF VINELAND, NEW JERSEY THREAD SAVER FOR SEWING MACHINES Application filed April 2,

from being lost or wasted when the thread thread coming breaks. At the present time,

from a spool or bobbin on a thread supporting stand in certain classes of sewing machines passes through the openings of several guides.

In certain classes of machines, one

i of these guides is located at the top while the I very small amount of the other is attached to known as the bobbin winder knitting machine. There. may

the bottom of what is of a hosiery be several of these guides situated along the path of the thread, all for the purpose of guiding. the

thread to the proper place of entrance in the bobbin winder.

In the process of sewing, this thread may break and in power driven sewi partlcularly where a ng machines,

belt is used, the force of the movable parts 1s such that it causes convexion currents of air sufliciently strong to draw the thread into these parts before there is time to shut off the power. Such movement causes the thread to become entangled in the machine, causes loss of thread and a in cleaning out the j The object of this invention a thread guide which may be where along the path that the thread takesin considerable considerable loss oftime am caused by the thread.

is to provide located anypassing down to the undermost bobbin winder which is so constructed that the thread will easily pass throughit but which is so formed that if the thread be br 3' free end of the thread should oken and the swing ofi toward a movable part of the machine such as the belt and be pulled thereby, the thread will be cut or else will break so that only a thread will wind around the movable parts so thatthe waste is negligible and easily cleared away.

. A further object is to provide a device of this character which in diflferent forms may be readily applied to any stand or bobbin winder used for sewing or easily built as part of the stand or bobbin winder and which may be applied at a plurality of different places along the course of the thread.

Otherobjects will appear in the following description.

the course of comprises a shank 193a Serial 1%. 602,796.

Figure 4 is a section onthe line 4. l of 60 I Figure 2.

Referring to the drawing, it will be seen that in Figure 1,1 have illustrated a part of a sewing machine designated A and associ ated with this sewing machinethe vertical 65 supporting member B of a thread stand of an ordinary bobbin winder having the spools C and the upper guides a through which the thread passes. From one I of these upper guides c, the thread 25. is shownas passing 7.0 downward to the bobbin winder D. lhe thread i is shown as passing through a bobbin guard or guide d. The bobbin winder is driven by a belt E which engages a pulley on the shalitof the sewing machine head. So :15 iar, the parts I have described are old and well-known and are merely shown for illustrative purposes and I have illustrated in Figure 1 two of my thread savers, onedisposed between the thread stand and the guide to d and the other disposed between the bobbin winder D and the guide (Z. In Figure 2, I illustrate in detail the device which is'applied to the shaft B of the thread stand. This 10 of metal such as steel, 85- the rear end of this shank being enlarged to form an elongated eye 11 having a split or opening 12 on one side and being provided with the set screw 18 extending through the end of the eye at right angles to the slit.

' The shank 10 under ordinary circumstances is approximately five incheslong and at one end is curved outward at 14. The stock of the shank is reduced in thickness at this point by the upwardly extending bevels 15 and ter 9 minates in an eye 16. Thisieye as regards its upper portion is circular in form but the inner end of the eye tapers downward to a .V-shaped notch 17. ,Prei'erably, though not from the outer face of the eye inward to the inner face thereof, this slot being preferably inclined upward and preferably having its lower wall beveled at the outer end of the slot as at 19. This slot 18 is for the purpose of threading the eye expeditiously and without the necessity of guiding the eXtremityc-f the thread through the eye and the bevel 19 is for the purpose of permitting the ready entrance of the thread into the eye.

The material on each side of the V-shaped notch 17 is beveled to provide thecutting edges 20 which define this V-shaped notch. These cutting edges are very sharp and. act when the thread has dropped down into this V-shaped notch to am the thread and to cut the thread or cause it to break at this point. These cutting edges 20 are razor edges.

It will be seen that I have provided a thread guide, as it may be called, which is so con structed that the thread may easily pass through it, the eye in the end of the shank being suiiiciently large to permit this and that at the notch 17 there is situated these razor blades or cutters so that if the thread be drawn laterally, it will come in contact with one or the other of these, razor sharp edges and will be severed but so long as the thread runs smoothly in its proper path, it will not be severed.

This deviation of the thread which will cause the thread to be severed is brought about by the tendency of a broken thread to swing toward the movable parts of the machine, this being caused by air currents. Thus, for instance, in Figure 1, I have shown the broken end of the thread 6 as having been drawn over to the belt E. Since the parts are toward the machine and this knife edge is also toward the machine, the thread will come in contact with this knife edge and is cut promptly or becomes jammed and is broken. Inasmuch as the thread is cut or broken only a very small amount, that part actually entangled with the belt or other part of the machine is lost. The wasteis, therefore, negligible and it requires but an instant to disentangle this small portion of the thread from the machine whereas if the thread is not cut or broken, the continued movement of the machine would draw off quite a large quantity of thread which would become entangled with the machine, have to be severed, and then disentangled.

In Figure 4, I illustrate a modified form of this thread saver which is so designed that it may be applied to the table upon which the sewing machine is mounted. This consists of a shank 21 having a base 22 formed with a slot 23 whereby it may be attached to the table of the sewing machine or to any other suitable support. The shank 21 is bent at right angles to the base and at its end is formed with'an eye, the axis of which extends at right angles to the sewing machine,

or, in other words, in a horizontal plane. The eye is constructed in exactly the same manner as the eye previously described and the same reference numerals have been used therefor.

It follows, therefore, that if the thread should break between the guide (Z and the bobbin winder D, the end of the thread swinging over toward the belt E, as it will do, will cause the thread to be brought into the V- shaped notch 17 and severed by the cutting edges 20. The device shown in Figure 2 can be used on the base of any sewing machine and does the same work in the same manner as the device shown in Figure 2. There may be any number of these thread saving devices, however, placed anywhere along the course of the thread. Increasing the number of these devices decreases the chance of the thread being entangled and wasted. The devices are so constructed that they may be inserted on any stand or bobbin winder used for sewing and though, of course, they may be very readily built on a stand or bobbin winder in the manufacture of the stand.

With a device of this character on a machine, much thread can be saved during the course of a workin day in a shop of moderate capacity. The thread will break on an average of five or six times a day. 7 This means about $1.00 per break for the cost'of the thread and the time needed to clean the machinery. My device in actual practice has greatly reduced the amount of thread wasted and the amount of time wasted in disentangling the thread. The device is very easily and cheaply constructed and may be applied to any-stand.

I claim r 1. A thread saver of the character described, comprising a shank, the shank being formed with a substantially closed eye through which the thread passes, the eye at one point having a V-shaped notch, the opposite walls of the notch being formed with threadcutting edges, the eye, directly opposite the V-shaped notch being smooth and unbroken.

2. A device of the character described, comprising a shank formed at one end with an eye, the outer end of the eye being circular, the inner end of the eye being t -shaped, the'V- shaped portion of the eye being provided on its opposite walls with sharp cutting edges whereby if the thread is carried in this V- shaped portion of the eye, it will be cut or roken. 3. A device of the character described, comprising a shank, the outer end of the shank being curved so that the termination of the shank is approximately at right angles to the body of the shank, the terminal end of the shank being formed with an eye through which thread may pass, the upper end of the eye extending downward to a V shaped'notch,

eye being semi-circular, the lower end oft-he the opposed walls of -the notch having sharp cutting edgesflthe shank immediately beneath the eye being beveled downward and outward.

4. A device of the character describedQcomprising a shank having at one end an elongated eye and a set screw clamping the shank upon a support, the opposite end of the shank being turned at right angles and the terminal end of the shank being reduced in thickness and formed with an eye, the outer portion of the eye being semi-circular, the inner portion of the eye being formed to provide a V-shaped notch into which the walls of the eye merge gradually, the opposite walls of the V-shaped notch being formed with sharp cutting edges.

In testimony whereof I hereunto aflix my signature.

MICHAEL A. SCIULLO. 

